Forgiveness Test

Lessons from Joseph
Now you have the position, the power and authority plus all the resources imaginable. The individual who put you in prison now reports to you. The lives of your brothers who were unjust to you by selling you off into slavery are now in your hands. The only way they stay alive is if you agree to sell them food plus because it is many years later, they do not recognize it is you. The big question is, how do you handle thissituation?

Genesis 45:4-5
4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they approached him. And he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 Now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to save life and preserve our family.

I cannot even begin to imagine the kind of horror on the faces of his brothers when Joseph revealed himself to them. They must have thought “we are dead men!” Talk about a clean and pure heart, Joseph had one. In his heart he had already forgiven his brothers even before they asked to be forgiven.
Think about Potiphar and his wife, what do you think went through their minds when they got the news that Joseph was now second in command after Pharaoh? Or the cup bearer who had forgotten the good Joseph did to him by interpreting his dream and for 2 years he forgot to put in a good word for him? Yet in all this things Joseph did not carry offence neither did he allow bitterness to take root in his heart.

From the scripture above we can tell that Joseph was a man who did not just look at things from face value. He sees the big picture and that is why he had to reassure his brothers that what they meant for evil God had turned around for good.
This one thing is for sure, you cannot walk into and function in your destiny if you allow bitterness offence and un-forgiveness to take root in your heart. Your destiny is connected to serving people in one way or another and how can you do that with un- forgiveness weighing heavily in your heart? Realize that it is Joseph who was wronged by his brothers. Humanly thinking, he has every right to be angry and bitter not only because his brothers sold him off into slavery but more so that they hated him enough to contemplate killing him. Despite all this he takes the initiative to forgive and reassure his brothers that all is well. God could not only trust him with resources, he could also trust him with people’s lives and heart.

Can He trust You?

DECLARATION
I will not allow bitterness and resentment to take root in my heart. Lord help me to be quick to forgive like Joseph, help me to know how to handle peoples hearts with compassion and care.